Mammoth WVH & 3 Doors Down joined for a night of post-grunge nostalgia
Creed stopped in Allentown, PA for one of a handful of remaining dates on their Are You Ready? Tour.
Creed frontman Scott Stapp has an instantly recognizable voice, marked by an ability to somehow project the high and low ends of his register at the same time. Itโs one that has taken him from the annals of rock idolatry to the Grand Ole Opry.
The production featured the most frenetic light show of 2024 (and we just covered TSOโs Christmas tour). โBulletsโ and โFreedom Fighterโ opened the show with particularly immersive light-strobing.
โMy Own Prisonโ saw Stapp share vocal duties with guitarist Mark Tremonti. Their harmonies were post-grunge perfection, with both having that melancholy-metal timbre to their voices. Tremoni was recently awarded the title of best guitarist by Guitar Magazine. To celebrate, he gave an enthused fan a guitar from his signature collectionโwith some help from Santa.
And there was a lot of enthusiasm. A circle pit in the GA section, and fans head-banging hard across the arena. Almost paradoxically to the vibe of the room, Stapp would stop down for minutes at a time. Suddenly, heโd command the roomโs full attention with bombastic words of encouragement. Stapp would become a rock and roll Tony Robbins; a Pentecostal preacher of the โhuman spirit,โ encouraging the crowd to let the music hit their soul.
Mammoth WVH and 3 Doors Down kicked off the night. Mammoth is keeping the classic hard rock sound alive. Lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Wolfgang Van Halen has an unmistakable X-factor of a superstar in the making. In the studio, he performs every instrument, but live, he has a band to support his out-of-this-world talent.
3 Doors Down performed an hourlong set, the American flag by their side. Vocalist Brad Arnold is still in fine form. โLanding in Londonโ and โKryptoniteโ were packed with LED imagery that made this reviewer think they might be a good fit to play the Sphere in Vegas.
The groupโs biggest hit, โOne Last Breath,โ came in the encore. Acknowledging the viral popularity of the lyrics, the band has merch emblazoned with the pensive line, โI’m six feet from the edge // and I’m thinking maybe six feet ain’t so far down.โ
Of course, Creedโs fans have been doing that for yearsโletting the music hold meaning. Itโs almost like a band called โCreedโ knew their fans would create an ethos with their music. Because of that, Creed is not โSix feetโ from anything. Theyโre much, much “Higher.”